Wilson Glen

Location:  Start at Buena Vista Rd in Woodford at the sandstone memorial opposite Woodford Station

Grade: Easy, although a bit overgrown at times and some uneven rock steps to negotiate

Duration: 1hour

Features: Creek, Cave

Trip Notes:

A pool in the middle of beautiful bushland, lined with sandstone blocks and surrounded by ferns - a place for families and friends to gather on a sunny afternoon and enjoy the therapeutic atmosphere and clear cool water. This is how we imagined Gypsy Pool to be, as a friendly fellow walker described this man made pool and the days he spent at the swimming hole years ago. Now the pool has sadly been allowed to fall into disrepair - the sandstone walls broken, with silt and overgrown vegetation hiding the glory of days gone by.

Nevertheless, Gypsy Pool is a fascinating place to visit and the trip there makes a great afternoon bushwalk. The memorial at the start tells us that in 1932 Thomas M. Wilson dedicated this area to the Blue Mountains in memory of his wife, and as we descend the well-formed steps we are grateful for this generous gift. Lush green ferns surround the path and a few old seats provide some places to sit and observe. A wooden bridge takes us over the small creek which winds its way down the escarpment and we soon come to a curious little sandstone structure with water dripping into its moss covered cup shaped surface. A silver sign above it tells us it’s Tealby Spa – we later find out that this is a natural spring and there was once a metal lions head here with the water running from it.

A few meters away a large shelter with picnic tables provides a nice spot for a break before descending down into Wilson Glen. Angophora trees dot the landscape with their orange trunks standing out amid the glistening green of the ferns. The track takes us over a number of bridges through the rich rainforest type vegetation of Wilson Glen and brings us out into more open forest. As we walk past the hand painted sign pointing to Gypsy Cave, we soon come to an old fire trail. Turning right at this T-intersection and following the track for a few minutes to another path on the right takes us to Gypsy Pool. Crossing the old pool, we enter Gypsy Cave – it’s more like an overhang than a cave but there is room in there for a picnic table, and I imagine it would have been a wonderful shady spot for swimmers to rest and picnic, long ago when the pool was in its prime.

A set of steps heads off to the right and this is our return route. Ascending the steps we soon come to a small track on the left which leads to a lookout and is a peaceful spot giving clear views of the surrounding bushland while looking down onto the ferns of Gypsy Pool. Continuing on, a fork in the path is eventually reached - making a sharp left here takes us up a few more steps, past young Banksia trees and eroded rocks bringing us finally out onto Railway Parade. To complete the round trip a short road walk has to be done but care must be taken as the road is narrow and there is no footpath.

DH

This article has been published in the May/June 2011 edition of The Mountains Blueberry.